Ringing In
by Punzie the Platypus
Summary: On New Year's Eve, the Flynn-Fletchers throw a party. After that the gang set a huge fireworks display on top of City Hall and shoot them off at the late night parade, where Jeremy and the Incidentals are playing on a float. Perry, annoyed at not being able to go to the O.W.C.A.'s party, fights Doofenshmirtz, who wants there to be no new year.
1. Yeah, Those Are Actual Explosives

**Thank you, God, for everything. **

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Phineas and Ferb. It's FINALLY the end of 2012! Usually during the last few days of the year, I'm like, "Wow, in a few days it'll be *insert new year.*" Now I'm just like, "Why isn't it 2013 yet?" God bless you!  
**

It was a late afternoon at the Flynn-Fletcher house. Linda and Lawrence were chatting light talk as they unloaded groceries from the car into the kitchen. Perry was sound asleep, though still on alert, for Monogram hadn't contacted him yet to tell him Doofenshmirtz was up to something. Even though it was late in the day, he knew he'd be up to something. Wasn't it the evil scientist himself who told him New Year was a lot of noise? He was bound to do something.

Perry wasn't asleep in his pet bed, however. He had somehow managed to avoid Candace's vision and was now snoring softly on her pink-flowered bed sheet. Over to the other side of the room sat Candace on her computer chair, busily typing on her laptop.

Candace giggled excitedly as she re-adjusted her cellphone so that she could hear Stacy better. "So after my mom's New Year's Eve party, we're all going to go downtown for the big parade," she squealed.

"And we'll see the big acorn drop! Why is it an acorn, anyway?" Stacy wondered, lying all flailed out on her bed.

"Beats a giant meatloaf," Candace pointed out. "And at the parade, there will be Jeremy on his float!"

"Jeremy and the Incidentals," Stacy pointed out. "The Incidentals are important, and cute, and by cute, I mean Coltrane, and by Coltrane, I mean my unofficial boyfriend, and, yeah," Stacy nodded to herself, "everything else is pretty much literal."

"Yeah, and when Jeremy sees me in the crowd, he'll wave, and then I'll probably faint," Candace sighed dreamily.

"Yeah, you and me both. Your brothers can catch us and make sure we don't hit the ground," Stacy suggested.

A look crossed Candace's face as she pushed her computer chair away from her laptop. "Phineas and Ferb?"

"Yeah, I mean, they'd catch us, right?" Stacy wondered.

Candace was not listening to her at all. "Where _is_ Phineas and Ferb?"

"I don't know. Haven't you tried to bust them today yet? You've been pretty rantless today."

"That's because I've been trying to pick out the perfect outfit," Candace explained. She looked down at the floor, which was covered in an array of pants, skirts, shirts and shoes.

"Oh, just wear your party outfit, you look cute in it," Stacy advised.

Candace smiled and said, "Thanks, Stace."

"Now, I think you were talking about your brothers?"

"Oh, right," Candace grinned. A sneaky glint grew in her eye and a devious smile crossed her face. Stacy, being well, Stacy, quickly realized what she had done. "Oh no."

"Thanks, Stace!" Candace said a quick goodbye and snapped her cellphone shut and shoving it into her pocket, she raced down the hall.

Her quickly falling footsteps could quickly be heard by Phineas and Ferb, who were both sitting cross-legged on their bedroom floor. Phineas, wearing his white sweater, tugged at the collar; their room had gotten quite warm, for all the boxes that were stacked up in it squished all the heat into the middle of the room, where he and Ferb sat.

The two were looking over a blueprint. Phineas smiled as he held it in his hands and said, "And so, we'll do box 32 after box 23, making the colors look like a rainbow."

Ferb was just starting to nod when Candace plowed into the room, running into a stack of boxes. With a squeal of pain and annoyance, she groaned and sank to the floor.

"Happy New Year's Eve, Candace," Phineas said pleasantly, completely ignoring the fact that Candace had barged into their room.

Candace straightened up and turned to them, "All right, what are in these boxes?"

"Explosives," Phineas smiled.

Candace was just standing up when he said that. She instantly froze, her limbs shot up in the air. Her lips barely parted as she whispered, "Phineas, are you serious?"

"Actually Candace, I am," Phineas confirmed.

"What?"

"You see, Candace, today is New Year's Eve, and Ferb and I decided that we would put together the biggest firework display Danville has ever seen!" Phineas explained. Taking a quick look over at his sister, he added, "Don't worry, there's no matches around here."

Candace let out a sigh of relief as her limbs went limp. She looked at them with a look she used quite a lot that summer and declared, "You are so busted!" She turned and raced down the stairs, yelling, "MOM!"

Phineas shrugged and their alarm clock suddenly beeped. Phineas smiled as he and Ferb stood up. "About time for the men to get here to haul this stuff to City Hall. Can't keep 'em waiting." And as soon as Phineas was done saying that, the top of their room was lifted and a man with a machine called, "Ready, boys?"

"Ready," Phineas responded, and with that, the man used the heavy metal machine to lift a large stack of boxes out of the house.

* * *

Candace could hear them on her way downstairs, but she didn't care. She darted into the kitchen to see Linda and Lawrence busy. Linda was getting sodas out of the grocery bags and Lawrence was busy sweeping the floors. Today they were holding their annual New Year's Eve party.

"Mom, MOM!" Candace yelled, excitedly pointing to the back doors.

"What is it now, Candace? I'm busy, as you can see . . . if you were looking at me," Linda said, and she sighed, her hands on her hips.

"Oh, don't be so hard on her, love. She's just excited for the parade," Lawrence said as Candace squealed, jumped up and down, and raced across the room and opened the doors; she was met with a yard filled with snow.

"Candace, close the doors, you're letting the heat out," Linda said.

Candace remained quite frozen, saying to herself, "But . . . but . . . but. . ."

Lawrence walked over and closed the doors, letting the heat stay inside, and said, "Candace, how about you go tidy up the living room for the party?"

"Yeah . . . I guess . . . sure," Candace said, and she sighed and headed into the living room to go clean up in time for the New Year's Eve party.

* * *

With Linda, Lawrence and Candace busy cleaning the house and Phineas and Ferb acting as overseers as their fireworks were delivered to the top of City Hall, there was nobody noticing Perry opening his eyes. Upon seeing nobody in the room, he quickly scuttled from Candace's bed and hurried into her closet. Slipping on a fedora, he opened a Ducky Momo cookie jar and jumped inside, slipping the lid back on it.

He rushed down a tube and arrived at his personal headquarters. Before he was at his red chair, the screen flicked to the camera. Carl was in front of it, wearing a party hat, and Perry, unamused, could see a disco ball in the background of what looked to be a party.

"Agent P! First of all, Happy New Year's Eve!" Carl said, his voice excited.

Perry remained very unamused.

"Oh, or not happy. Anyway, with it being the end of the year, Doofenshmirtz is busy making something for an evil use. We're not exactly sure, seeing as I haven't had time to do anything but prepare the party!" Carl fist pumped, but then remembering that he was talking to someone who was working on an international holiday, stopped, and said, "Oh, sorry about that, Agent P."

He looked behind him and said, "Major Monogram is busy at the moment. You know, official O.W.C.A. business," and that's when Carl cringed and Perry heard, "Carl, hurry, the DJ is here!"

Perry sighed and slid out of his chair. Carl called after him, "Um, good luck, Agent P!"

Perry didn't seem to notice him as he hooked up to his jetpack and shot out of the place.

Carl lifted up a finger, but sighed, seeing as Perry had disappeared. "But . . . you could come back early and join us. Oh, well."

* * *

At City Hall, Phineas and Ferb were busy keeping an eye on their fireworks by marking them on a clipboard. Workmen were busy unloading the truck, and that was when Phineas was tapped on the shoulder.

"Um, yes?" Phineas asked.

A red-haired woman sighed and said, "Look, I'm the mayor's secretary, and I'm supposed to check if you have permission to put explosives on the roof."

"We don't, actually. Can we?" Phineas asked excitedly.

The secretary shrugged. "Sure, why not? Say, aren't you a little young to be firing off fireworks on a public building, though?"

"Yes, yes I am."

"Well, just be careful then. See ya," and the secretary, grumbling, headed back into City Hall.

* * *

Candace, wearing a Christmas sweater that her grandma had shoved on her, was busy rearranging the pillows on the couch when the doorbell rang.

She looked up to see Linda, wearing an apron and coming in from the kitchen, which was smelling incredible, opening the door. She smiled and said, "Hello, Jeremy. Suzy, Hawkeye, Jack, come on in."

"Thanks, Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher," Jeremy said as he and Suzy, looking grumpy at having to go to a party, wearing earmuffs and a thick jacket, entered the foyer.

Candace, looking alert, said, "Wait, Jeremy's here. I'm-I'm not ready!" and she proceeded to screech as she ran up the stairs, alerting the Johnsons to her screaming presence.

They all looked at her and once the door to her room slammed close, Linda looked back to the guests with a smile and said, "Come on in."

They entered, and after them came Vivian and Isabella, Vivian bearing a very large platter. It was a plate with salsa and chips.

"Ah, Linda, how wonderful to see you again. It's been so long! Goodness gracious!" Vivian said quickly as other guests started to arrive. People started to take off their jackets and mitts and scarfs. Linda managed to stand her ground and listen, though she was jostled, as Vivian continued, "I brought along my famous chips and salsa. I knew it was a finger food party, and what is more finger food than salsa and chips!"

"Very good, Vivian," Linda said. "How about we continue this in the kitchen?"

"Oh yes, of course, Linda. The kitchen, what was I thinking?" Vivian said as she followed Linda into the kitchen.

* * *

While the party was starting downstairs, Candace was in the middle of a panic attack. While she had been cleaning, not only was she wearing a large, fluffy, scratchy and overall a sweater-that-you-only-want-family-members-to-see-you-in, she was wearing pajama pants.

And so that leads us to see Candace sitting in her room, moaning into her hands. She had gotten dressed in a pair of jeans and a white shirt with pink flowers on it. She looked fine. She just felt perfectly unprepared.

There came a knock on the door, and Candace said weakly, not looking up from her hands, "What?"

"What happened _now_?" Stacy said, peeking her head inside. She noticed Candace and said, "Candace, Jeremy is down there and your grandpa just popped open a bottle of champagne and the party just started. Why are you up here?"

"Is because of reasons a good excuse?" Candace asked, looking up.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Stacy said, and she walked over to the foot of Candace's bed, where Candace was sitting. "Now come on and act cheerful. Intermingle."

"Yeah, I guess I should," Candace said. She offered her hand and said, "Pull me, Stacy."

"The things I do to make you social," Stacy sighed as she grabbed Candace's hand and led her to the door.

**Thank you for reading and please leave a review if you feel so inclined! Have a belated Merry Christmas! God bless you!**


	2. Partying and Stuff

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Phineas and Ferb. Thank you for reading! God bless you! :)**

It being considerably dark now, Perry was sure that he wouldn't be noticed as he flew up to the top of _Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated_! He landed on the floor, disengaged his jetpack, and looked around. It was noticeably quiet, and dark. Perry was suspicious, seeing as he couldn't see any lights. That it, he couldn't until he heard, "I'm in the kitchen, Perry the Platypus!"

He turned and headed to Doof's kitchen. Upon entering, he saw that Doofenshmirtz was busy working on an inator of sorts. In his hand was a screwdriver, and he had a toolbox on the table.

Doofenshmirtz finished with what he was doing and looking over his inator, he said, "Oh, there you are, Perry the Platypus! Yeah, still working on the inator. Had to go drop Vanessa off at her New Year's Eve party with her goth friends. Then I was hungry, and I had to come and eat something. Then, well, here we are." He waved his hands and sighed, putting them down. "Yep. Don't worry, though, 'cause I'm done!"

The doctor straightened and said, "As you will remember, Perry the Platypus, I do not particularly like New Year's Eve. It's too loud, and it just brings along another year where I get beaten by you and my inators get destroyed every single day, every single week, for yet another year! It's depressing, Perry the Platypus, but I don't want to talk about that right now."

He hurried from behind the inator and said, pointing to a small little TV that was on the counter, playing live coverage of downtown, "Anyway, they're having their stupid parade going through downtown tonight, and my brother, Roger, is going to be on top of one of the floats." The screen changed to show Roger at City Hall, being interviewed by a reporter. Doofenshmirtz made fists and groaned in frustration. "Oh, he won't be smiling like that when I'm done!"

He hurried from behind the inator and said, "So, to humiliate Roger and to cause the new year from happening, I invented an inator, _as I always do_. Perry the Platypus, allow me to introduce you to the Blow-Floats-Up-Inator! It will stop his float, blowing it up, and upsetting the parade, causing Roger NOT to lower the acorn and so there will be no new year!" He stretched out his arms and presented it with a "ta da!"

Perry looked a little bored, or maybe it was because of the New Year's Eve party he was missing out on, making Doofenshmirtz say quickly, "'Course, it could just be called a laser or-or whatever, but I like my name for it, so don't judge it, Perry the Platypus. Don't judge."

Doofenshmirtz nodded excitedly and then noticing something out of the ordinary, said, "Whoops!" and the tape from the junk drawer in his kitchen flew out and wrapped around Perry several times, tying him up. Doofenshmirtz waved his finger about and said with a smile, "Forgot about trapping you, Perry the Platypus." Turning to take his inator to the balcony, he said to himself, "Geez, I must be getting old."

* * *

Meanwhile, Candace and Stacy, having gone downstairs, were hiding in a broom closet off of the kitchen. Well, Candace was. Stacy was standing outside of it, her arms folded, saying, "Candace, this is really unnecessary, you know that?"

"Sorry, Stacy," Candace said. She was leaning against the wall between the broom and the mop. "The entrance to the Panic Room was covered with snow shovels and stuff."

"I can imagine, but seriously, Candace. You're missing out on a great party, _I'm _missing out on a great party here!" Stacy said sternly. "Come on out and stop being such a recluse, or else."

"Or else what?"

Stacy sighed and putting a hand to her forehead, whispered to herself, "It's for her own good." In a louder voice she called, "Hey, Jeremy, I found Candace!"

Candace gasped when she heard Jeremy say, "You did? Great! I've been looking all over for her!"

Stacy waved her hand to beckon Jeremy over, and at that moment, Candace came flying out of the closet, nearly knocking Stacy over. She dusted herself off and said in a controlled voice, "Why, hello Jeremy. Happy New Year's Eve!"

"Hey, Candace," Jeremy said slowly. He looked a little concerned as Stacy unsteadily stood up. "Is Stacy okay?"

"Don't worry 'bout me," Stacy said, her voice all strangled.

"Okay . . . are you two coming to the New Year's Eve parade this year?" Jeremy asked, a slight smile on his face. One of his hands was stuffed in one of his pockets while the other was holding a cup full of punch.

"Oh yes, most definitely. Wouldn't miss it for the world," Candace said excitedly.

"Cool, cool. The boys and I are going to leave early so we'll have time to set up our float with the instruments and stuff, you know, plugging in things and rehearsing," Jeremy said. "Let me know where you'll be standing in the crowd, 'kay?"

"Of course," Candace said. "We'll be near the end near the giant acorn."

"Sweet. Why _is_ it a giant acorn?"

"Be glad its not a meatloaf," Stacy pointed out. She straightened and looked much better than she did the moment before.

"Yeah, true. Your parents going to be there?" Jeremy asked.

"Yeah, and Candace's brothers," Stacy said.

Candace looked grumpy at that. She folded her arms and said, her eyes darting about suspiciously, "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"What?" Jeremy asked. "Am I missing something?"

"They plan on having the biggest fireworks display that Danville has ever seen," Candace told them both.

"Sounds cool," said Jeremy.

"Yeah, and TOTALLY bustable," Candace said. She strained her neck as she tried to peek into the kitchen, saying, "Wait, where are they?"

"Aren't they in the house?" asked Stacy.

"Wait a minute," Candace said, ignoring Stacy. "The boys aren't here. Where are they?" She pumped her fist. "This is it! Mom! Mom! Mom!" and Candace darted past Jeremy and Stacy toward the kitchen in search for Linda.

"Is a bit redundant to say that I'm not too surprised about her behavior?" Jeremy asked, looking to Stacy.

She shook her head. "I'd be surprised if you were."

* * *

Perry, hopping fiercely to try to keep up with Doofenshmirtz on the way to the balcony, saw that the evening had turned to night, and the stars were out. It'd be a perfectly lovely New Year's Eve, with some light snowflakes falling from some of the clouds, if Doofenshmirtz wasn't busy humming and reminding Perry that he was working.

"Ah, beautiful night, isn't it, Perry the Platypus?" Doofenshmirtz said. He had donned a large jacket with a fur-lined hood, and was blowing on his hands. The inator was brought against the balcony, and Perry shivered.

He couldn't answer Doof. He was chattering, literally, for he was getting to be very cold in the below freezing temperatures.

"Say, Perry the Platypus, you look cold," Doofenshmirtz couldn't help but point out. It was pointless to Perry for him to do that. Never mind that, for Doofenshmirtz glanced at his wrist, which had no watch on it, and said, "Well, it's only around nine. Let's head back inside."

Perry raised an eyebrow but hopped after him. Doofenshmirtz rubbed his hands together, saying, "Have I ever made you my famous hot cocoa? Well, it's not exactly famous, but not yet, Perry the Platypus. It'll only be a matter of time before my magnificent recipe is discovered. . ."

* * *

Back at the party, Isabella, Baljeet, Buford, Irving, the other Fireside Girls, Phineas and Ferb were all in the kitchen. The party intermingling around them, they stayed quiet and cheerfully chewed tortilla chips with salsa.

"This salsa, Buford likes it. Buford wants more!" Buford said, pounding the counter with his fist. The vibration caused Baljeet's chip to break in the salsa, and he let out a sad sigh.

"It's my mom's famous recipe," Isabella said. Perched on top of the counter, she was wearing a new and very pretty pink sweater.

"It's awesome!" Phineas said. He turned to Ferb and said, "I bet Perry would want a tortilla chip." He looked around. "Hey, where's Perry?"

"A little late in the day to be saying that, eh, Phineas?" Baljeet pointed out.

"What's the time? I have to log this in!" Irving said excitedly. Buford gave Irving a weirded-out look as the nerd, giggling, logged the time on his clipboard. "Nine . . . forty-two."

"Wow, it's that time already?" Jeremy said as he, Candace and Stacy walked into the kitchen. He turned to Candace and said, "Well, I gotta go now."

"All right. I'll be looking for you!" Candace said excitedly.

Jeremy smiled, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and then hurried off to find his band mates.

Phineas, Ferb and the gang all watched with poker faces as Candace sighed and nearly melted to the ground, only not hitting it when she was caught by Stacy.

"Okay, we need to work on keeping you near seating," Stacy said. She turned to the kids and said, "We're all going to have a big tournament of Skiddley Whiffers before we head off to the parade."

"Sounds cool," Phineas said, and the kids, all talking excitedly, passed Stacy on the way into the living room. She sighed. Candace was still smiling a love-dazed smile, Stacy's hands around her shoulders, and the Asian teen said, "Well, thanks for the help."

* * *

Some time later, Phineas was busy messing around with the Christmas music on a tape he and Ferb had made. Ferb was standing near the stereo, politely chewing a cookie. Technically, Christmas music was still allowed until New Year's.

Phineas tweaked it and said, "There we go!" and the stereo started to play a remix of 'Deck the Halls.' Ferb tapped his foot to the music and Phineas nodded his head faster and faster as it picked up.

"Oh yeah!" Phineas said, and the music filled the house. It made the party atmosphere grow among the crowds of sweater-wearing, laughing people, all except for Candace. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to Stacy, who was cross-legged as well. They were in front of a game board, and were playing against Baljeet, Isabella, Buford, and two of the Fireside Girls.

"YES!" Stacy said, and her shoe moved ahead. She turned to Candace, who had her fists holding up her head. "Cheer up, Candace."

"I will when we can go. AGHH, why is the evening of the last day of the last month always the longest?" Candace groaned.

"Because you're watching the clock more. Duh, Candace. Everyone knows when you look at the clock more, time goes slower," Stacy said as Baljeet rolled the dice.

"Guess so," Candace said.

"Hey, cheer up. I'm sure that time will pass when you focus on something. Like this game. It's Skiddley Whiffers. You're bound to win!" Stacy said excitedly.

"Well, I _can _beat you," Candace nodded.

"Yeah, just win one and you'll feel better."

* * *

"I won AGAIN!" Stacy said, raising her arms and making fists. Candace, who once again had her face supported by her fists, gave Stacy a look. It was Stacy's fifth straight game in a row that she had won.

The rest of the kids started to set up the game again when the moms all appeared, all dressed in wintery wear, ready to go out into the cold and brutal world for the sake of tradition and entertainment.

"Kids, time to head to the parade," Linda said.

Candace giggled, pumped her fist and said, "Yes!" She stood. "I get to see my Jeremy!"

"Best hurry then, if y'all want good seats," Phineas said, looking up from the game, which was now starting to get put away instead. He looked to Ferb and said, "Got the plans for the fireworks, bro?"

Ferb nodded, and the two of them followed their parents and friends and sister to the car. Lawrence took to the driver's seat, saying, "Hurry up, now! Hopefully it'll get less chilly when we get there."

"Turn the heater on," Linda said, and with that, they were gone. They drove through the Tri-State area, Christmas songs playing softly in the air, the heater on, creating muggy heat in the car. Lawrence focused on driving, Linda was busy watching the city pass by, and Candace was not trying very hard in restraining herself from having fan girl/excited girlfriend flails.

"It's going to be SO great!" Candace said as they hurried into a parking garage. Lawrence found a parking spot soon, and as soon as the car was parked, Candace jumped out, and jumping up and down by the open door, yelled, "C'mon, c'mon! We need to hurry!"

"Calm down, Candace!" Linda said as she and Lawrence closed their car doors.

"Oh, let her be excited, love," Lawrence said as he and Linda, side by side, started walking behind Phineas and Ferb, who were trailing the overly excited Candace, "it's New Year's Eve, after all."

"True," Linda said, and a few minutes later, they were all at their spot in front of the antique store. All of their friends were there, and Stacy found Candace, who was at the front of the sidewalk, only hindered from going on the street by a long yellow rope separating the crowd from the floats.

"Are they here yet? Are they here yet?" Candace said excitedly, looking from left to right.

"It's not for a few more minutes, Candace. We _are _at the end of the line, after all," Stacy said as she joined her friend's side. Her hands grasped the ropes, and looking around, she spotted the giant acorn in front of City Hall, and she said, "Oh, there's the acorn."

Candace turned her head to look at it as well. "Huh. Looks bigger on TV."

"Doesn't everything?" Stacy said matter-of-factly.

Candace's head went from shoulder to shoulder. "True."

Occupied by the over-sized nut, neither Candace or Stacy noticed the little huddle Phineas, Ferb and the gang were in.

"All right, Baljeet and Buford take the lower right hand corner. Isabella, you and Irving take the lower left hand corner. Fireside Girls on the other two corners, and Ferbooch and I are taking the front. Are we clear?" Phineas asked.

"Clear as a glass, Phineas!" Irving said quickly as Isabella, Baljeet and Holly agreed.

"That's one of the saddest and stupidest things I think you have ever said," Buford said with a blink.

"It was spur of the moment, Buford. If I had been given notice beforehand, I'm sure I would have come up with something else," Irving said, adjusting his pink glasses. He was wearing a blue set of earmuffs. He frowned as everyone darted off to their positions, leaving only Isabella.

She sighed. "All right, Irving. Let's head to the roof."

"But of course. Does Mademoiselle want a hand?" Irving said. He held out his arm in a crooked position, trying to smile very prettily.

Isabella cleared her throat. "You know what, I'll pass."

She started walking to City Hall, her hands in her pockets, leaving Irving hanging. "Oh, all right then," and he quickly remembered what they were doing and hurried after Isabella.

**Thank you for reading! God bless you! **


	3. Happy New Year!

**DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Phineas and Ferb. Hello, my lovelies! Happy New Year! Thank you for reading! God bless you! :)**

Later this evening, we find ourselves at Doofenshmirtz's purple apartment. In his quaint 70s' living room, there was a roaring fire. In the old chairs opposite each other, set at an angle, was Doofenshmirtz and Perry. Perry was untied from his tape trap, and was politely using a straw to sip a cup of cocoa so big that it could have held a quart of soup.

Doofenshmirtz was leaning back in his chair, sighing a content sigh. "See, Perry the Platypus? This is how New Year's Eve should be. No loud parties where people are incoherent and where most of the food is from the grocery store, no big fireworks. Just a nice fire and a cup of cocoa before the year doesn't end."

The year, of course, was going to end, as years usually do, but as Perry could not relay that to Doofenshmirtz and make him see sense, he simply took another sip of cocoa.

Doofenshmirtz looked at the clock over the mantle and said, "Oh, it's past eleven-fifty, Perry the Platypus! Tie yourself up and - did you like the cocoa?"

Perry nodded as he slipped on his tape chains, and the two of them hurried to the balcony. Perry reached the edge and watched as Doofenshmirtz, having pulled out a pair of binoculars, started to scan the excited crowd.

"Oh, it's just a matter of time before Roger's float appears. In a matter of fact, he should be here in less than ten seconds. As the mayor, he's very close to the beginning of the parade," Doofenshmirtz said with a groan. Rolling his eyes, he said, "Well, better me getting my Blow-Floats-Up-Inator ready."

Perry watched Doofenshmirtz hum as he tended to his machine. The platypus turned away and looked up at the sky. It was getting darker, and the stars were definitely less prominent. Clouds were appearing, and the snow falling was coming down a bit harder.

The Blow-Floats-Up-Inator let out a WHARR! and Doofenshmirtz, rubbing his cold hands together in excitement and intent to keep them warm, turned and said, looking over the edge, "Roger should show up any moment now."

* * *

Meanwhile, on the roof of City Hall, the kids had managed to get to the top. They were carefully unpacking the boxes of fireworks, wary of the fact that they could go off if they did something wrong.

Baljeet placed a small box near his corner, and looking around, said, "Wow, I hope this snow doesn't last for long. We need to be able to light these fireworks, and we won't be able to if the spark gets extinguished by snow!"

"Yeah," Buford said, placing a very huge box on the ground near Baljeet's small box, "and maybe there's the fact that nobody can see the fireworks right now. Ever thought of that, nerd?"

Baljeet frowned. "Of course, I was just thinking of practical things first."

Meanwhile, Isabella was busy arranging the fireworks in her corner. Irving, grunting and groaning, placed another box near her. She turned, and he quickly stopped panting and instead, looked very relaxed and calm under pressure.

"That should be enough fireworks now, Irving," Isabella said patiently before turning to the other boxes.

"You're-you're welcome," Irving said, and he let out a groan and leaned against the boxes in exhaustion.

Phineas and Ferb, both by the edge of the roof facing the parade area, were waiting. Phineas had his binoculars, and Ferb was busy setting up stands for the fireworks.

"See anything of great importance yet?" Ferb asked as he stood up and dusted his hands off of his pants.

"Well, the parade's coming along," Phineas said. Through the binoculars, he saw several floats approaching. There was a marching band with a person with a baton in front, and then came along Love Handel on a float, followed by Mayor Doofenshmirtz, who was on top of a giant acorn and wearing a fur coat, and was waving to the populace with a bright smile.

His binoculars went from the mayor to his sister, who stood out in the crowd, as she was almost falling over the yellow rope. "Hey, look, it's Candace!"

It was indeed Candace, and she was looking swiftly back and forth to see if she could find Jeremy.

"Hope Jeremy shows up soon. She's looking a bit frantic," Phineas said. Ferb could only nod in agreement.

* * *

"Ha! There he is!" Doofenshmirtz said, pointing excitedly. Perry peeked over to see that the mayor's float. Doofenshmirtz turned to Perry and said, "Quickly, Perry the Platypus, what time is it?"

Perry removed his arm from his trap and checking his watch, and showed it to Doof.

"Okay, five minutes 'til midnight. That's enough time to stop the new year from coming!" Doofenshmirtz said, and he went back to his Blow-Floats-Up-Inator, completely and blissfully not aware that it was the new year in several different countries already.

"Now, to take down my brother, the tyrannical ruler!" Doofenshmirtz said. He looked to Perry, who gave him a look. "Okay," Doof said, rolling his eyes, "I guess he isn't tyrannical, but I still don't like him!"

The Blow-Floats-Up-Inator was pointing and about ready to hit Roger Doofenshmirtz when Perry, using his cocoa straw, freed his one arm that was stuck, and gave the laser a magnificent kick, forcing it off course.

* * *

Candace looked to Stacy and said, "Where IS he?"

"Well, you might know if you turned around," Stacy said, and with a smile, she made her finger turn in a circular motion.

Candace quickly turned around, and in front of her was Jeremy and the Incidentals' float. Shaped like a CD, it had a backing like half of a dome. The drummer was at the back, dressed warmly, and was lightly tapping the cymbals. Coltrane was at the guitar, playing a light twangy tune, and Jeremy was in front, wearing his usual jacket and hat, and was singing along while playing his guitar.

"Jeremy!" Candace said excitedly, and she clasped her hands together.

Stacy did the same and said, "I'm going to faint. Your brothers are going to catch me, right?"

"Wait, my brothers?" Candace said, and she looked away from the float as Stacy fell down.

"Geez, thanks, Candace," Stacy said sarcastically.

"Where are my brothers? Where did they go?" Candace asked, looking around. She gasped. "They've disappeared! Mom! Mom! Mom!"

"Candace, you're yelling in my ear," Linda said, rubbing her ear and looking irritated.

"Mom, Mom, where's Phineas and Ferb?" Candace said quickly.

Linda looked around. Tutting, she said, "Well, they were here just a minute ago-"

"See! SEE!? MOM, THEY'RE GONE! Yes!" and Candace did a fist pump.

That's when Candace's victory was cut short. She turned and gasped just in time to see Jeremy and the Incidentals' float disappear, disappearing in a laser beam of green. The instruments and boys fell to the ground, stopping the parade.

Coltrane and Jeremy and their drummer looked at each other, surprised, and Jeremy shrugged and said, "Well, I guess we're kind of done."

"It's okay, guys! You all did great!" Stacy called from the sidelines. She looked to Candace and said, "Candace, are you okay?"

"I'm not even sure anymore," Candace said quietly.

* * *

The mayor's float had survived the attack, though the inator was sending random beams of green light into the air. The float stopped in front of the City Hall, and the mayor waved and walking down the stairs of the float, he crossed over to the steps of the City Hall, where there was two officials and Melanie, his secretary.

Doofenshmirtz and Perry, who were both fighting and knocking the inator's front laser-shooter back and forth between each other like it was a tether ball, stopped when suddenly Doofenshmirtz gasped and turned around. Roger had pressed a button, and the tall acorn was descending toward Earth.

"Perry the Platypus! Oh no! It's fifteen seconds to midnight!" Perry stopped punching the inator, which only hit the doctor. "Ow," said Doofenshmirtz, rubbing his cheek.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the rooftop of the City Hall, Holly approached Adyson and said, "Is it almost time?"

"Almost. Maybe the new year will come faster if we count down," Adyson suggested.

"It's worked before," said Gretchen, and all the Fireside Girls (except Isabella, who was on the other side of the roof) started to count down from, "Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven-"

* * *

Two or three stories down, Melanie leaned in toward the mayor and whispered, "I can hear tiny counting-down."

"We should do the same," Roger said quickly, and he started to say, "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six-"

The crowd joined him. Jeremy and the Incidentals had quickly moved their stuff over to where their friends and family were, and now they were behind the yellow rope. Jeremy was standing next to Candace, who had kind of bored but eager eyes at watching their acorn descend.

_Five, four, three_

Love Handel played in the background as the crowd grew louder and louder, and:

_Two, ONE!_

"Hit it, Ferb!" Phineas was able to say before the crowd entirely erupted into shouts of happiness and "Happy New Year!" Ferb nodded, and Phineas turned and called for the others to do the same. Matches out and ready were struck and there was not a large blizzard of snow to be had. The fireworks were all lined up. Ferb quickly lit each in his arrangement before quickly stepping back. His fireworks flew through the air along with the other fireworks from the four corners of City Hall.

They exploded into magnificent and glittering masterpieces. There was one that exploded into a giant flag, another of Phineas and Ferb's faces (they simply couldn't help themselves), and another of an acorn and then one of a meatloaf.

At their corner, Isabella had her arms crossed. "Irving, hurry up!"

"I'm-I'm no good under pressure!" Irving said, striking his match but not getting a spark.

"Let me," Isabella said, and she took the match and set about striking it. "I didn't get my Able to Make Fire with Fifteen Different Tools patch for nothing, you know!" and the fireworks shot off in a form of an antique, a rollercoaster and Love Handel's label.

"Wow, that's really pretty," Irving said, breathless.

Isabella smirked to herself. "I know."

Irving sighed and said, "Look, Isabella-"

"Save it, Irving."

Irving smiled. "But I only wanted to say that I ship you and Phineas."

Isabella looked confused, and she turned to Irving, who was merely wearing a very large grin.

* * *

Meanwhile, down in the streets, where the crowds were still erupting, Linda and Lawrence had their arms around each other's shoulders, and Candace and Jeremy, in a state of contentment and in the tradition of the new year, gave each other a quick kiss. Stacy and Coltrane watched from the sidelines, Coltrane saying, "Think she's finally focused?"

"Well, a wild guess, but yeah, I say she's going to be fine," Stacy said.

"Think she'll bust her brothers this year?" Coltrane asked.

"Of course not."

* * *

Up on the roof, their fireworks firing off into the air, Phineas sighed and looking to Ferb, said, "Thinking of any new year's resolutions, Ferb?"

"Not a single one, though we might want to invest in bathing Perry more," Ferb said.

"True. Say, where's Perry?" Phineas said, looking around.

"You already said that," Ferb pointed out.

"Yeah, but he usually appears by now," Phineas said. He straightened and shrugged. "He's probably at home, sleeping in his bed."

"And missing out on all this?" Ferb asked.

"I guess so."

* * *

Perry was not at home at all. He was on top of Doof's roof, laying one last destroying punch on the inator, leaving it as a bunch of broken down rumble.

"Well, Perry the Platypus, curse you and yada yada," Doofenshmirtz said grimly. He let out a chilly breath and hugging himself, said, "Hey, want to avoid these crowds and go have some more cocoa?"

Perry looked at him for a moment, and he realized that the party at Headquarters would be over right now, and he DID want to enjoy the holiday. Why not? He nodded, and the two nemesises walked into the apartment, ready to have some more cocoa.

* * *

Back at HQ, the party was over. Confetti was all over the floor, the buffet was a mess, and the disco ball covered in streamers. In the middle of the floor, standing and sighing, was the major and Carl.

"Guess we're going to have to clean up, huh, Carl?" Major Monogram said.

Carl sighed, "Yes, sir."

"See, this is what we get for hiring agents without opposable thumbs!"

"Yes, sir."

"Yeah, well. . . Happy New Year, Carl."

"Happy New Year to you too, sir."

"Now we have to clean up."

"Yeah . . ."

"Good luck with that," and the major hurried away, leaving Carl with a broom. The intern sighed. "This is what I get for being the unpaid intern, huh? Guess working my way up is my new year's resolution," and he was left with the poor job of cleaning up the party.

**Poor Carl. :P Thank you for reading! Please, if you don't mind, _leave a review_! It'd make me so happy, especially since I have the WORST COLD EVER. God bless you! **


End file.
